Brian P. Jacob, David C. Chen, Bruce Ramshaw, Shirin Towfigh (eds.) - The SAGES Manual of Groin Pain-Springer International Publishing (2016)

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the patient’s understanding of the entire situation? Why was there such
a long pause after your last explanation before the patient’s next question?
Did the patient really understand what was being explained?
Instead of simply answering questions, the communicator must also ask
appropriate questions to identify the level of the patient’s understanding
and to be sure that there are no gaps or holes in that understanding.
Such patient-centered communication must extend beyond the individual
seeking and receiving care and must also include the family
members who will be involved in the preparation for the care, who will
be waiting as the procedure takes place, and who will be providing comfort
and assistance for the patient following the clinic visit and/or surgical
procedure. Communication with the patient’s support system can
also identify factors that could be of benefit or could be detrimental to
the treatment of chronic pain. For example, our team has observed in
some cases that a controlling female influence (mother and/or spouse)
for an adult male suffering from chronic pain after hernia repair can
predict a more challenging recovery and potentially a less successful
outcome. This factor currently observed by our hernia team is potentially
related to outcomes. Factors such as this will need to be evaluated
in a factor analysis to determine the weighted correlation to various
outcomes for a more objective evaluation.
The Role of the Patient Care Manager
The role of the patient care manager in the clinical team is to provide
true patient-centered care by facilitating all levels of communication.
The patient care manager must become the communicator who creates
the environment that will identify the total needs of the patient—including
the patient’s family/support system—and who will coordinate meeting
those needs in an appropriate manner with the entire clinical team.
At the same time, the patient care manager and the clinical team must be
able to transfer critical information from the medical team to the patient
in a manner that will ensure that the ongoing needs of the patient will be
met. Listening, explaining, and understanding are the key ingredients in
facilitating the dynamics of this exchange.
As previously mentioned, this communication process must begin at
a very early stage. In order to ensure proper patient-centered care in a
program treating patients with chronic groin pain, the appropriate clearances
must be obtained from primary care physicians or referring medical
specialists in such areas as pulmonology, cardiology, and other